Jayson Tatum discusses trope that Celtics are 'never supposed to lose'

Sam LaFrance | May 10, 2024

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum / Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics dropped Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. Boston collectively looked lethargic, disinterested, and just cold overall in the 118-93 defeat.

A team with such high hopes this spring looking the way they did just felt wrong. However, these things happen if you ask Jayson Tatum.

When prompted about the expectations surrounding the Celtics, the thought that they really shouldn't lose games, Tatum reiterated what he and his team had been saying all season.

They don't expect it to be easy.

"You never want to lose, especially in the playoffs," he said (h/t CLNS Media). There's a lot of things that we can learn from. The world thinks we're never supposed to lose. We're supposed to win every game by 25. It's not gonna be like that all the time, we don't expect it to be easy. It's a good team that we're playing. It's the second round of the playoffs. It's gonna be fun the rest of the series and especially come Saturday."

The 26-year-old went on to discuss how the Cs inherit the tough expectations and harsh criticism that comes with having such a talented team, but none of the recognition.

"That's the narrative that you might see on TV," he continued. "The idea that we have a super team. It's twofold, right? We didn't have the coach of the year. We didn't have the MVP. We only had two all-stars. So, you can say we're a super team, but we didn't get rewarded like we are. We know we got a good team. We're not perfect. We play the right way more often than not and we know we got to be better."

The sort of effort that the Cs as a whole gave on Thursday just wasn't a championship effort. If the team truly has those aspirations, performances like that should be few and far between. In fairness to this group, they've been absolute nails all season long when it comes to responding after losses.

It was pretty rare for them to drop back-to-back games. Even when that did happen, it never stretched to three consecutive losses. This group certainly learns from their mistakes (even if the losses pop up in consecutive Game 2s) and finds a way to use them as growth.

Tatum and the Celtics will have a chance to do just that on Saturday night, when they take on the Cavs in Game 3.